Judas PriestA Touch Of Evil Live

The idea of yet another live Judas Priest album seems pointless. That is, until one takes a peek at A Touch Of Evil Live's track listing. Comprised of tunes the band have never gotten around to releasing in a live format, interest is instantly piqued. Yet how do tracks such as "Between The Hammer And The Anvil," "Judas Rising," "Dissident Aggressor" and "Painkiller" come across decades after release, when the band are closer to death than their most aggressive, impacting years? Surprisingly, the album is a compelling affair, each track performed perfectly yet with enough looseness and unique elements to feel like bonafide additions to the Priest canon. Simply put, there's a justified reason to add this seemingly inconsequential effort to one's collection: the tunes rock, the band are spot-on and it's almost a sort of die-hard "best of." Naturally that opens the floodgates for debate on song selection, omitted and selected, but this hour-long disc is certainly worth the attention, much more so than Nostradamus, at least. Then again, that's not saying much, is it?
(Epic)